On Dec. 2, a federal judge temporarily halted enforcement of a provision in a major Republican-backed spending bill that would have cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood and similar abortion-providing nonprofits, ruling that the provision is likely unconstitutional and would harm patients’ access to non-abortion health services.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama appointee in the District of Massachusetts, issued the preliminary injunction. The lawsuit was filed in July by attorneys general from 22 Democratic-led states, led by California, Connecticut, and New York, along with Washington, D.C.
The ruling prevents the Trump administration from applying the restriction in those jurisdictions while the case proceeds. This marks the second time U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani has blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to impose this policy. As CatholicVote previously reported, Talwani issued a nationwide preliminary injunction July 21.
The targeted provision, embedded in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” bars Medicaid payments to any nonprofit that performs abortions and received more than $800,000 in Medicaid funds in fiscal year 2023 — a threshold Planned Parenthood easily exceeds.
In her 45-page ruling, Talwani wrote that the provision is “impermissibly ambiguous” and said it would “increase the percentage of patients unable to receive birth control and preventive screenings, thereby prompting an increase in states’ health care costs,” according to Reuters. She also found that the measure likely imposes an unconstitutional retroactive condition on states’ Medicaid spending.
Planned Parenthood praised the decision in a written statement quoted by The Center Square saying Talwani “again recognized the ‘defund’ law for what it is: unconstitutional and dangerous.”
National pro-life group Susan B Anthony Pro Life America sharply criticized the ruling.
“The Democrats and their radical activist judges are desperately seeking to thwart the will of the people and bail out the Big Abortion industry, led by Planned Parenthood,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B Anthony Pro Life America, said in a statement.
She added that Planned Parenthood’s more than 40 clinic closures this year reflect both taxpayer opposition and “their failing business model that prioritizes abortion, politics and profits at the expense of women and children.”
Dannenfelser also pointed to systemic problems at Planned Parenthood, stating, “Even The New York Times admits Planned Parenthood systematically fails the women of America, doing irreparable harm with its substandard so-called ‘care’ all while killing millions of babies — they clearly do not deserve half a billion dollars a year in Medicaid funding.”
She further argued that “better health care options that are more accessible and more comprehensive now outnumber Planned Parenthoods at least 15 to 1, with alternative Medicaid providers in every state.”
>> In rare editorial, Washington Post criticizes judge protecting Planned Parenthood funding <<
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